During this year’s annual budget, the Finance minister of India, Arun Jaitley did mention that the growing use of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is indeed a matter of concern. But even so, Bitcoin or trading of other cryptocurrencies was not declared illegal in India.Following this news, Mumbai-based start-up Truebil, which deals with used cars has gone on to announce that they have now started selling used cars for cash as well as bitcoins. The start-up also declared that they see no harm in doing so and find it to be a perfectly legal mode of payment in India.

However, the start-up did say that they would not accept the Bitcoin payment directly rather through a different platform. This other platform mentioned is none other than the start-up’s partner Unocoin, a website which allows cryptocurrency trading. Customers wishing to purchase a used car will first have to transfer bitcoins as per the agreed amount on Unocoin, and Unocoin will then transfer the amount into Truebil’s bank account.Once this is done the transaction shall be termed complete.

Truebil also revealed that they would not disclose the prices of any used cars in cryptocurrency.The start-up stated that they would be implementing Unocoin’s point-of-sale applications in their stores for accepting payments in Bitcoins. This process would be carried out at their dealerships. Further making it quite clear that they would not entertain any customer who wishes to transfer cryptocurrencies directly into Truebil’s bank account.

Truebil also went on to explain how this process would work they said, for this transfer to materialize first a customer has to choose their desired vehicle, Unocoin will then provide a barcode to Truebil. The price of the selected car is then displayed on this barcode in bitcoin value. The value remains constant for a period of 30 minutes and if the customer chooses to proceed further and make the payment within in the lock-in period, the price will not change, however, if the payment exceeds the 30 minute lock-in period, the price would be as per the latest bitcoin price.

As per the announcement made on Techcircle, Shubh Bansal, co-founder, Truebil stated

“Once the customer decides to pay using a bitcoin wallet, the UnocoinPoS can be used to deduct the crypto-asset which will be changed into fiat currency and transferred to our account in 24 hours,”

It was also mentioned that Unocoin would not be charging anything to the customers or the start-up for the payment process. Both the customers as well as Truebil would get the transaction and conversion services absolutely free of cost. An unnamed law firm did however say has that the government would be keeping a close watch on these kinds of transactions. Further-more the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also declared a series of regulation faced towards security-related risks related to the dealing of cryptocurrencies.

It is officially a first in India where a car dealership is providing the option of dealing with used cars via Bitcoin. There are quite a few restaurants in India which announced the acceptance of Bitcoins as payments which indicates the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies in India. Unocoin were quick to comment on this development and said, this new arrangement would definitely prove to be a stepping stone for further acceptance of crypto-currencies in India. In the future, it would be safe to say that we could see a lot more people doing transactions with cryptocurrencies.…

HybridBlock is focusing itself on Asia-Pacific cryptocurrency trading market to emerge as a key player. The company is keen to create an ecosystem with the vision of bringing in 100 million fresh people into the fold of blockchain network in the upcoming three-year period. After the United States, Japan and South Korea are the two countries that have been encouraging the use of digital coin as a means of payment. Therefore, it fits well with the company’s aim of concentrating on the Asia-Pacific market.

Mapping out Lofty Goals

The Malta-based HybridBlock appears to not be leaving any stone unturned as it strengthened its core team. The company indicated that they are in the process of mapping their big goals and aligning with the smartest people so that there are no issues in executing its vision. Its HybridCentral, which is an educational platform, would have new folks from throughout the world into the blockchain economy, which is gaining more traction across the globe. More than the cryptocurrency, its platform is attracting more attention for one or the other things.

The company expects to use the market conditions and perceptions as the economy is moving towards cashless and digital one. The firm is also coming out with an all-in-one trading ecosystem so that users could stand to gain from the offering a complete suite of trading tools. This includes four key areas and the first among them is the blockchain’s rapidly increasing infrastructure while the second will focus on serving beginners, i.e., BaseTrade. The third one will concentrate on intermediate traders, i.e., HybridExchange, whereas the fourth is meant for professionals, i.e., HybridTerminal.

Hybrid Token

HybridBlock has come out with initial coin offering (ICO) of its own token that is known as a Hybrid token. The digital token would play a key role in its network functioning. The owners of the token would not only get exclusive access to its fresh products and services along with discounted fees but also opportunities to invest in its upcoming token sales of ICO that it might launch.
The objectives of the tokens could be classified into three. The first primary function is enabling payment of transaction fees apart from every service within the network of the blockchain. The second functioning is to offer specialized products and services on an exclusive access basis. The third is that the token could be available from the open market since it is a tradable cryptocurrency.

Payment Unit

The company indicated that the token would be a payment unit for network transactions on its HybridFX. The firm believes that once the volume of network transaction increases, it will reflect in the Hybrid tokens volume towards payment as transaction fees, i.e., to the network. Aside from that, there would also be provisions to pay for premium content. This includes the HybridAcademy learning modules with the help of the social and educational application.
HybridBlock expects this to cover fees besides accessing the HybridTerminal through payment on a monthly basis by way of Hybrid tokens. The company disclosed that students could also get access to advanced training apart from other premium content with the help of its digital token.…

This abundant selling has had quite the impact on the digital currency taking the BTC/USD well towards $10,569.10 (price mentioned is as per Coinmarketcap) while the time of publishing this article.

As per a report produced in the Tokyo district court Mt. Gox’s trustee revealed that over the span of six months they have managed to sell Bitcoin $360M and Bitcoin Cash amounting up-to $360 million and $44 million respectively. The report also further stated that If deemed necessary by the court the trustee will not hesitate to sell the remaining BTC’s too, which apparently are a huge 166K BTC’s in today’s date that would be worth a massive $2billion.

“As a result of the consultation with the court, I considered it mandatory and reasonable to sell a certain amount of BTC and BCC at this point and secure some specific amount of money for distribution resources, and hence, I sold the amount of BTC and BCC above.”

“I made attempts to sell BTC and BCC at an optimal and highest price possible in light of the market price of BTC and BCC at the timing of a sale. I plan to discuss with the court and determine further sale of BTC and BCC.”

Investors and traders have been left dazzled by this decision taken by the trustee, they are quite confused by the decision of the trustee to sell the Bitcoins which are in MtGox’s possession.

Given the fact that the prices of both BTC and BCC (Bitcoin cash) are predicted to surge even higher, It is but obvious that most of the MtGox creditors who are due compensation, expect to receive it in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash what to get it in BTC or BCC.

Whenever there is a sale of such a huge amount of Bitcoin, If there is no proper planning for the sale, it undeniably affects the entire cryptocurrency market further-more leading to volatility.…

Earlier on Tuesday Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University professor and economist gave his opinion regarding the rapidly trending cryptocurrency Bitcoin. He said that the probability of bitcoin prices falling to $100 is more likely than that of the digital currency trading at $100,000 a decade from now

Rogoff also quoted on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” by further adding “I believe the worth of bitcoin will be a tiny fraction compared to its current rate if we’re headed out 10 years from now … I would see $100 as being a lot more likely than $100,000 ten years down the line,”

Rogoff further explained his predictions which will cause the drop by stating the fact that the development of government regulations will be a major factor which would cause this drop. However, he was quick to add that a considerable amount of time would be taken for developing a global framework of regulation.

He then went on to add “It really needs to be global regulation. Even if the U.S. cracks down on it and China cracks down, but Japan refuses to do so, people would still be able to still launder money through Japan,”

The former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also added “Basically, if you take away the possibility of money laundering and tax evasion, it barely has any actual application as a transaction vehicle,”

Undoubtedly being a digital currency with no physical appearance so it naturally has been amalgamated with illegal transactions, still, it isn’t the case for being overly misused as estimates of the proportion of the digital currency used in illicit practices keep on varying. The president and co-founder of Blockchain Intelligence Group, Shone Anstey estimated that the level of illegal transactions in bitcoin had gradually dropped to 20 percent in 2016 and was “considerably was lesser” as compared to 2017.

The development of regulatory as far as the cryptocurrency market is concerned depends completely on individual countries. The fact that Bitcoin has already been legalized as a currency by Japan in 2017 and also the country announced officially that they acknowledged quite a few cryptocurrency exchanges. But in spite of this announcement to everyone’s amusement, an astonishing theft took place in which tokens worth $530 million was reportedly stolen in January. This breach called for authorities to push for further improvements in security.

Where countries have only been in talks for developing securities South Korea has already made it a mandatory rule which would only permit a user to trade cryptocurrencies using their real-name bank accounts.

Blockchain technology protecting the bitcoin bubble from popping.

As per Coinmarketcap Bitcoin was trading at around $11,168.90 on Tuesday. The digital currency has dropped by 16 percent this year, after reaching an all-time high of $19,000 in December last year.

Rogoff believes that the main reason why authorities have been reluctant to take any measures when it comes to regulating Bitcoin is due to the fact that the technology behind the digital currency presents a tremendous potential for the future. He also stated, “They want to see the technology develop,”

Rogoff further said that he believes that, if you see the history of currency the private sector has been the major contributors to “inventing everything” right from standardized coinage to paper currency.

Bitcoin is just one of the many applications of the revolutionary blockchain technology, a term utilized while describing the distributed ledger technology which permits transactions to be recorded and stored,.this has also been targeted as an area which has massive growth potential.

Rogoff’s predictions cannot be taken lightly as notably, this isn’t the first time the economist has stated that the cryptocurrency prices will drop. Even Before bitcoin sold off in December 2017, Rogoff already had stated on CNBC in October 2017 saying that, given the increasing attempts made by governments to regulate the cryptocurrency space it is only a matter of time till the prices of the digital currency would drastically “collapse”.…

Over the span of the last three months Japanese IT company GMO internet has managed to generate over $3 million in revenue through their cryptocurrency mine.

As per a mining report published on the 5th of March the firm which trades publicly revealed that In total for the month of December, January and February then have managed to generate 23 BTC, 93 BTC, and 124 BTC respectively and a total coming up to 240BTC’s which in today’s date as of when this article was published amounts nearly up-to $2.64 million as per Coinmarketcap’s Bitcoin price index.

Also, the company revealed that GMO’s mining venture has managed to rake in a value of well over $3.3 million in revenue just months after its initial launch. Along with this, the company was quick to add that they also managed to raise a total 525 bitcoin cash for the same period, which amounts to $654,000 at the market price while publishing this article.

However, it is safe to say that the data presented by GMO does not exactly reveal an absolute picture regarding the mine’s financial status, which also includes the price at which those coins were brought. Also, it cannot be said by a complete assurance that the number of cryptocurrencies raked in were in surplus compared to the operating expenses at any given time in this brief three-month time.

GMO’s development in processing capacity was also explained in details in the report GMO published.

By the end of February GMO had a hash rate of 108 petahashes per second (PH/s), and by the end of this year, GMO intends on achieving 3,000 PH/s.

As per the recent data published by Blockchain, the bitcoin network currently boasts a hash rate of 22,125 PH/s.

It was also revealed earlier, the firm’s initial plan of launching its mining unit last September, which officially went live by the end of last year in northern Europe.

Based on previous statements, there have been a lot of speculations hinting at additional revenue sources starting from five to six months prior to now. GMO also revealed in the previous month that they would be shifting gears by stepping up efforts and providing cryptocurrency cloud mining services by August 2018.…